Garment-stretcher.



H. H. ANDERSON. GARMENT STRETGHER. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 14, 1909.

Patented May 12, 1914.

HERVEY H. ANDERSON, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

GABMENT-STRETGI-IER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12, 1914;.

Application filed January 14, 1909. Serial No. 472,262.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERVEY H. ANDER- son, a citizen of the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment-' Stretchers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for creasing and shaping trousers, and comprises in the preferred construct-ion a pair of clamping members adapted to engage the legs of the trousers at the front and rear, and provided with means for causing them to grip tightly, and with means for separating them so as to stretch the trousers transversely. In the preferred embodiment of the invention each clamp consists of two clamping members hinged together along one of their edges, and provided with clips whereby they may be closed tightly upon the folded edges of the garment. Preferably, also, each of the strips is hinged at its middle portion in order that it may be folded more compactly. I also provide stretchers which may be pivotally attached at one end to one member of the pair of clamps and detachably engaged with a pin or stud carried by a member of the other pair of clamps.

My invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which- Figures 1 and 2 are side views of the re spective pairs of clamps; Figs. 3 and a are edge views thereof; Fig. 5 shows the clamps engaged with the garment; Fig. 6 shows the same fully applied, the pair of clamps being separated by the stretchers; Fig. 7 shows one of the clamping members folded at its mid-length; and Fig. 8 is a detail view of the clip.

I will distinguish the two pairs of clamping members by the designations front and rear, meaning by the use of the word front the clamping member which is applied to the front of the legs of the garment, and by the word rear the clamping member which is applied to the rear of the legs of the garment.

Referring to the pair of front clamps shown in Fig. 1, it is composed of the members 10 and 11 which may be hinged together at one edge by the wire loops 12 to enable the two members of the pair to be opened out to receive the garment, and which for convenience in packing or storing may be provided with the transverse hinge members 13. One of the clamping members, as 11, carries a clip 14: comprising a Ushaped body having the side members 15, attaching'lug 16, and the lip 17. V

The rear pair of clamps is of similar construction to the front pair, except that the upper members of this pair of clamps are attached to the lower members at an angle, so as to make the clamp conform to p-he outline of the rear edge of the trousers Attached to one member of one of the pairs of clamps is a stretcher 18 consisting of a thin metal bar pivoted at 19 and having its opposite end notched, as at 20, to engage the pin or stud 21 mounted upon the other pair of clamps.

The operation of this device is substantially as follows: hen the trousers are folded as desired, the folded front edges of the legs are engaged between the lower segments of the front pair of clamps, and the grips closed over them so as to firmly engage; then the trousers are drawn up slightly so as to stretch the fabric, and then the upper segment or portion of the clamp may be engaged and the trousers stretched tightly along the front edge so as to take the bag from the knee, and then the grips are closed over the upper segment of the clamp. In a similar manner the rear edge of the trousers may be engaged between the clamps, and then the stretch r adjusted so as to stretch the fabric transversely. I prefer also to make the grips from steel plate and to shape the sides thereof so that it will require considerable pressure to force them over the clamping strips, whereby to hold the garment firmly in position.

Considerable freedom may be allowed in the hinge members which connect the strips of each pair of clamps, since the spring grips when pressed into holding position will afford sufficient clamping pressure to hold the strips firmly in place upon the garment without reliance upon the wire loops forming the hinge members, and the hinge loops except for the purpose of convenience may be omitted.

I claim:

A garment stretcher comprising front and rear clamps, each clamp including a pair of members, each member having top and bottom sections hinged together to fold back at substantially right angles to the plane of the device, spring clips pivotally carried by the top and bottom sections of one of the members and capable of detachably embracing adjacent cooperating sec tions of the other member, elastic Wire loops permanently connecting the bottom sections of each clamp at their outer edges, the top sections being mutually unconnected to permit folding back thereof upon the respective bottom sections, stretcher bars extending between the front and rear opposite clamp having projections for en- 15 gagement by the toothed portions of the respective stretcher bars.

HERVEY H. ANDERSON.

lVitnesses J N0. M. CHRISTIAN, D. PRICE VANARSTALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 1). G. 

